New Canadian Champ Car team formed

UPDATE #3 Team owner Eric Jensen met with Kevin Kalkhoven and sat in on the owners meeting at Sebring last week. His deal is a go. Our connections at Jensen Motorsport tell us the team's first race will be Toronto. Right now they will be running Reynards unless more sponsor money is found. They have been in contact with a number of drivers, but most drivers are looking for a full-time ride, hence are waiting to see what else they can find (full-time) before possibly doing a deal with Jensen Motorsport for a partial season. Mark C. 11/06/04 After a hectic 2004 racing season – which included events in Europe and throughout North America – Jensen MotorSport is poised to graduate to the Champ Car series in 2005. Meanwhile, we plan to continue (and expand) our efforts in both the Toyota Atlantic and Formula BMW USA series. The team has had considerable interest from our existing corporate partners, and some exciting new programs are coming along, so for sure 2005 is the year to graduate to the higher profile series. The move is especially important for the commercial side of Jensen MotorSport, which has for years been managing successful client events and branding programs at races both in the Champ Car and Formula One series. It is our plan to commit to run the Champ Car in just five (5) races in the 2005 season, with a focus on the CANADIAN market. It should prove quite a unique niche for the team, since we will be the first Canadian based team to compete at such a high level professional racing series in more than twenty (20) years. Jensen Motorsports 11/06/04 This Toronto Star article says, It is my pleasure today to announce the formation of a new, Canadian-based, Canadian-owned and Canadian-operated, open-wheel Indy-type racing car team that will contest at least five races in the Champ Car World Series in 2005. Eric Jensen of Newcastle, owner and operator of Jensen Motorsport, which campaigned two cars in the 2004 Formula BMW Series and one car (and sometimes two) in the Toyota Atlantic Series, told me this week that his company is a go to run one car in all four of Champ Car's Canadian races next year (Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal) and at least one in the United States (probably San Jose). I know, I know: a Molson Indy Vancouver isn't on the Champ Car schedule yet. But it will be. Trust me.

And here's something really refreshing: he says he has the budget to hire a driver, rather than taking on a chauffeur who would bring money to his team. "I'm going to be able to get the best driver available," Jensen said, adding that his sponsorship deal is nearly complete and an announcement is expected later this month. "A lot of owners in Champ Car have paying drivers, but I don't want to go that route. This way, I can test a few people and then choose the fastest without having to worry about the economic implications."

Jensen's entry will be the first uniquely Canadian team since David Billes's Canadian Tire entry in the old CART series back in the mid-1980s. Jacques Villeneuve, brother of Gilles and uncle of the world champion, was in the cockpit. Jensen is a nationalist and would like to hire a Canadian to drive the Champ Car — he's got a couple of young tigers in mind — but says he'll stick to his guns when it comes to a final evaluation of the talent: "The fastest driver will get the seat."

The Champ Car division will not be occupying all of Jensen's attention next year. He intends to continue with his two-car entry in Formula BMW and he'll likely continue to run at least two cars in the Atlantic series. I say "likely" because he has some questions about the economic viability of that series. "I have some issues with the engines," he said. "The four-cylinder Toyota engines they use in the series are really only reliable for about 500 miles (800 km) before you have to pay for a rebuild. When you average it out, it costs about $20 a mile to run them. I'd like the series to take a hard look at those engines.

"Having said that, no other junior-level series is anywhere close to Atlantic when it comes to professionalism. And it's a great series in that it goes to all the big venues, so it's great for the sponsors. But, as noted, it's expensive." Jensen was at Shannonville Motorsport Park much of the time in recent weeks, testing several potential Atlantic drivers. Antoine Besssette of Montreal and Adam Pecorari of Philadelphia will likely do the series with him next year, although he's optimistic that something might be worked out that would allow him to sign 13-year-old protégée John Edwards, of Little Rock, Ark., who won last month's Red Bull Driver Search showdown test in Estoril, Portugal.

"The problem with the Formula BMW Series, which would be good for John," said Jensen, "is that their insurance policy doesn't cover anybody in the cars under the age of 15. So he can't go there. The Red Bull people have recommended that he spend another year in karts, but I think that would be a waste. He's ready to move on."

A Champ Car team, even if it is only for five races, plus full Toyota Atlantic and Formula BMW programs would appear to be a very full plate. But Jensen insists he isn't worried. "Jensen Motorsport is ready for this," he vowed. "We have been slowly building to get to this point (he formed his first Atlantic team in 1997) and we've got a good platform on which to grow through 2005 and beyond. "To be honest with you, this is a really cool thing we're doing. There hasn't been a Canadian-owned open-wheel team in a top series since the '80s. Brian Stewart's done a great job in his area of the sport (Indy Lights, Infiniti Pro) but hasn't gone any further. We'll start out slowly next year, to make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew. But we're going forward."

Jensen said he also thinks things on the Champ Car front are looking up. "I have to admit I was worried in the spring of 2004 (when Champ Car won a court fight with the Indy Racing League for the rights to the bankrupt CART's races) but I'm not worried any more. "The fact that they announced the schedule this early is good (14 races confirmed, with Edmonton being an addition) because it helps all the teams in their hunt for corporate dollars. Everybody had a hard time this year because things got going so late.

"Demographic studies show North Americans who like open-wheel racing prefer road or street races. I think CART before, and Champ Car now, knows that if you want people to go to your races, you take the races to the cities. The white-collar people are in the cities, and that's who come to races. "I don't ever see a merger. I think, in the end, one of these series will just go away. I think I can safely say it will be the IRL that will go away." 09/06/04 We are hearing that a new Canadian Champ Car team is forming. Stay tuned….

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